The Fracture of Mirater
Over the next four centuries, the people of Mirater founded scores of settlements and built many cities. Towns dotted the landscape as the people naturally congregated and formed their communities. Trade and industry flourished throughout the land with many of the coastal cities offering promises of new discovery. Many of the adventurous types took to the seas, discovering new continents and mapping the world of Maserun. Life was very peaceful and disputes were settled using non-violent means. Life was good and the gods were proud.
The great forests in the northeast corner of Mirater were, without a doubt, the most prosperous land on the continent. The human settlers had all the knowledge they needed to capitalize on every opportunity for growth, and they did so. The towns spanning these great forests, also known as the Forest of Hope, had almost everything they wanted. The only lacking feature in the region was an above ground spring to supply water to the populace. Over time, water became more and more rare to the people, creating concerns and doubt within the inhabitant’s minds.
Being people of faith and with close ties to their supernatural deities, the shaman of the local town, a man by the name of Clade, requested an audience with his creator. Zeus answered the summons of the man and listened to his request, a simple request of providing more water to the people of the great forest. Zeus informed Clade he would send help soon, as he intended to talk to Poseidon to discuss which way would best serve the people of the land. He told the well intentioned human he would like to see if Poseidon would prefer to cut a stream through the lands or if Zeus, himself, should provide more rain for the region to meet the human needs.
A demigod with incredible strength, being one of Zeus’ offspring, watched as his father returned to Olympus. Witnessing the exchange between Zeus and Clade, he knew he could help. Heracles’ heart always had a need to do miraculous things and help the mortals his father had such an affection for. Heracles changed his outfit to hide his supernatural form. He donned a heavy and torn gray robe along with worn out sandals and made his way slowly into the town, searching for the man known as Clade. He met the man among the high trees of the forests.
“Clade? My father has sent me to fulfill your prayers.” the strong demigod lied. “Where would you like your lake to be created?”
The man quickly pointed a few hundred feet away, to a recently cleared area bearing nothing but stumps. “May I ask your name, good lord?” Clade requested of the demigod.
“Certainly. The name is…” Heracles struggled for a few heartbeats as he remembered a rule the gods made where demigods were not to be caretakers for the people of Maserun. “The name is Harlow.”
Clade nodded and his lips turned up in a smile. “We will name your creation after you, my lord. Harlow’s Lake will be known throughout the kingdoms of Mirater as a great symbol of your power and generosity!” Heracles returned the human’s smile and nodded in approval. The demigod made his way to the center of the circle of stumps and pulled off his beggar outfit, exposing the half-blooded god for all his true glory. He made a fist and pulled it back far above his head. He jutted forward and slammed his fist into the ground.
The entire continent of Mirater shuddered and jolted at the powerful blow, the soil immediately before the god sank deep into the ground, forming a large hole that immediately filled with water from the underground streams which provided life to the high growing trees of the area. An invisible wave of energy erupted from around the lake, forcing the closest trees to bend sideways and uproot from the blast. Clade’s eyes widened in terror as the invisible shockwave threw him backwards, tossing him hundreds of feet from the false savior known as Harlow. Heracles, recognizing the error in his approach, quickly ran to the human’s aid, catching him and covering him as the splinters of hundreds of trees tore through the air.
The damage of the false god’s blow did not stop there. A few miles out from the center, the shockwave gained momentum as the friction of the vegetation lit the blast into a fiery inferno. For dozens of miles, the trees of the great forests were quickly stripped of all their life as the fire engulfed the blast zone’s perimeter. Heracles’ eyes filled with water as the devastation he caused tore at his shattered heart. He heard the screams of thousands of humans as the fiery blast took their lives.
A thunderous clap was heard throughout the land and the heavens above quickly turned gray, clouds immediately taking shape and releasing water upon the land. Zeus used his powers of rain to extinguish the devastation as quickly as he could, dumping millions of gallons of water in the path of the vast inferno. When the fires were put out and the world calmed, Clade heard another thundering boom, this time with the result of Harlow nodding and staring at the heavens.
“Yes father, I will return,” the false god stated towards the heavens. Heracles turned to Clade, his eyes still full of tears. “You may call this land as you wish and I will never bother you again. I am sorry for the devastation of my actions and my unintended transgressions toward the people of these lands. My real name is Heracles, son of Zeus, and I have disobeyed my father.”
Clade looked upon the demigod with sympathy and contempt. He pushed away from the creature and yelled, “And what of our land!? What will you do to fix this!?” Heracles dropped his head in sorrow at the human’s disappointment. “I await an answer, false son of Zeus. You have destroyed our home and set our world ablaze! And I thought us humans were the less intelligent between us!” Heracles’ heart told him to take his beating from the disappointed human, but he could not sit idly by as a lesser being treated him with such contempt.
“You hold your tongue, human!” Heracles’ voice boomed through the wasteland region of Harlow’s Lake. “You ask for aid and assistance from those who create you, and then you have the nerve to be upset when that assistance is not exactly as you had hoped? Do you not have a lake in the area of your choosing as you have requested!?” The demigod stood tall and faced the human with his shoulders square. “Perhaps you should find a way to serve yourselves instead of always asking my father for support! My father has given your kind everything, and the one time one of us makes a mistake, you would damn all gods? I will not stand by and…”
Heracles words were cut-off as a bolt of lightning streaked into the ground between Clade and Heracles. The king of gods stood tall between the human and demigod, his size almost twice that of the human.
“Enough of this!” Zeus’ voice thundered at the two bickering before him. “Heracles, you are to return to Olympus immediately! I will fix your mistake only after I consult with the gods and our good follower, Clade, here.” Zeus gave a look of sympathy towards the human, his eyes telling the human he would do what was necessary to fix his son’s mistake. Heracles looked to his father in disbelief, a feeling of betrayal that his father would choose the lowly humans over his own flesh and blood washed over him.
Heracles stared hard at Clade, “As I said human, call it what you want!” Heracles’ final words departed his lips as he quickly turned into a flash of light, the beam departed the realm of Harlow’s Lake towards the heavenly skies above.
Zeus’ turned to Clade, his sympathetic gaze falling upon the human. “What would you like done about this situation?”
Clade returned a look of anger at the God of Thunder. “Leave us be.” was all the human could mutter.
Zeus bowed his head, understanding the great loss felt by his human follower at the time. “I will return in a few days as you discuss the situation with the remaining survivors of the land. The gods will support whatever course of action you choose as this was our doing. I am truly sorry for the loss and destruction.” Zeus looked up to the heavens and within a flash, a bolt of lightning streaked to the heavens as he disappeared. Clade stood among the devastation created by Heracles’ fist, his thoughts ranging from awe at the power of a half-god and contempt for the gods overall. He knew he should not decide the next course of action for a while.